Granted, Mean Girls is now over two decades old, and the remake meant to entice the next generation into the fold flopped pretty hard. Gen Z has been crying out for a new cult classic to sink their teeth into, and with Meredith Alloway’s debut feature Forbidden Fruits, some may argue that it has arrived. Others will say the film, and the Fruits themselves, feel like Mean Girls fan fiction that, without its horror-tinged final act, comes across as completely unoriginal and uninspired. I most certainly fall into the latter camp.

Co-written by Alloway alongside Lily Houghton, and based on Houghton’s stage play Of the Women Came the Beginning of Sin, and Through Her We All Die, Forbidden Fruits follows a secret coven operating out of the shop Free Eden. The group is led by Apple (Lili Reinhart), essentially a clone of Regina George, with the gothic yet intelligent Fig (Alexandra Shipp) filling the Gretchen Wieners role, and Cherry (Victoria Pedretti), Apple’s ever-loyal shadow, mirroring Karen Smith.

Naturally, for the full Mean Girls dynamic to fall into place, we need a version of Cady Heron. Enter Pumpkin (Lola Tung), a near carbon copy who is brought into the fold when Apple offers her a job at Free Eden. This cult-like coven drinks potions of menstrual blood, prays and confesses to the spirit of Marilyn Monroe, overcharges for trend-setting clothing, and, under Apple’s guidance, maintains a strict disdain for men.

For the first two acts, the film plays like a reskinned version of Mean Girls, existing largely to modernise a familiar story, with the witchcraft element providing the only real sense of novelty. That said, we are a generation removed from the original, so some will argue it is time for this kind of story to be retold. If Alloway’s aim was to craft something Gen Z will quote endlessly, she will likely succeed.

The final act’s horror turn does go some way towards justifying the film’s existence. There is a strong shock factor packed into the last half hour, with moments of excessive gore arriving so abruptly that they are bound to leave jaws on the floor. By the time the credits roll, there are images that will linger in the memory.

Forbidden Fruits is also extremely well made. Sarah Millman’s costume design is impeccable and bound to inspire countless outfit choices, particularly around Halloween in the years to come. Cinematographer Karim Hussain has a field day transforming a drab American mall into something visually engaging, which in this day and age should be no small feat.

Despite the Fruits themselves feeling remarkably familiar, the cast do a commendable job of putting their own stamp on things. Lili Reinhart’s Apple will almost certainly be labelled iconic, while Victoria Pedretti stands out, her portrayal of Cherry’s naivety occasionally feeling a little too convincing.

Maybe it is the script, maybe it is the direction, but Forbidden Fruits ultimately feels a little too derivative to land the punch it is aiming for, even being shot in the very same mall used in Mean Girls. The horror elements, while undeniably entertaining, come across as a last-ditch attempt to give the film a defining edge. I may well be in the minority, but a night at home with Mean Girls might prove more rewarding than a trip to the cinema for Forbidden Fruits.